In Dreams
by Earendil Eldar
Summary: A former enemy is back inside Torchwood, and has learned a thing or two about how to get to Jack. After targeting Ianto with a bomb that causes the victim to be unable to wake up, Ianto suffers implanted dreams that are as real as any nightmare he's lived through yet. (Post-series 2, some spoilers in later chapters.)
1. Chapter 1

"Ianto, sleep," Jack mumbled. It was rare that Jack was as exhausted as he was. And Ianto didn't need to be getting up at the ungodly hours he usually did either. It took a moment for Jack to realize Ianto was dreaming. "Come on, Yan. Wake up, just a dream."

Ianto whimpered in his sleep before letting out a pained cry.

"Come on, Ianto, it's a dream. You're fine. Wake up, handsome," Jack said, shaking Ianto gently.

Ianto just cried out again.

"Ok, Yan. Seriously? You gotta wake up for me 'cause that's really starting to bother me." Jack had heard far too many men cry out in pain like that in his life, and even knowing that it was just a dream, that Ianto was safe and sound beside him, didn't help.

Ianto only seemed to shrink into himself and still didn't wake up.

"Ianto!" Jack shouted.

Nothing.

"Wake up," Jack demanded, shaking his lover roughly, all to no avail. "Damn it," he growled, dragging a hand through his hair. Jack sat up and fumbled around his nightstand for his wrist strap. He fastened it and flipped up the flap, pressing a few buttons and running a scan over Ianto.

The scan showed Ianto's vitals were elevated much more than they should have been for a regular nightmare. For a moment, Jack had no idea what was going on, and it terrified him. Then he thought of the large, plain, bullet-shaped object sitting on his desk, waiting to be identified, and Jack's blood ran cold. That was a somnabomb, he'd stake anything on it. And that meant Ianto was its victim.

* * *

Jack emerged from his bunker, still half undressed, to get a better look at the shell on his desk and try to figure out how to counter its effects.

"Hello, Jack."

Jack spun around faster than a blink. "Who the hell are you?"

"Oh, how quickly we forget. Of course, you had some help with that."

"How did you get in here?" Jack growled.

"Jack, Jack, Jack. Getting in here was nothing, especially a second time. It was getting out of that nothingness you sent me to. Any of this coming back to you yet, Jack? What about you and your father and brother, Jack?"

Jack glared.

"Oh, yeah. You remember. See, Jack, that's the thing about your pills. They're not perfect, memories come back sometimes. Especially when someone has had training and resistance to them. Someone like our Ianto… or you. Speaking of Ianto, how is he?"

"What did you do to him?" Jack hissed. "I won't just make you disappear this time, I _will_ kill you!"

"You know, Jack, the last time I made the mistake of trying to bribe you with your past. I could see how much you wanted that… oh, you wanted those memories back _bad_. But I missed the really obvious… kind of tends to be the problem when you live on memory. Those memories were almost 200 years ago. You've started to move on. There's something here right now that you'd go a lot further for, isn't there, Jack? And he _is_ pretty when he's in pain… even when it's all in his head."


	2. Chapter 2

Ianto couldn't remember when he'd last been so tired. He had a feeling Jack wouldn't mind just getting some shut-eye, Jack looked just as tired as he was. Ianto snuggled in close to Jack (there wasn't any _other_ way to sleep in Jack's bunker) and was out cold in moments.

The dreams started almost immediately. Ianto was curled up with Jack, as close as they were in bed, except it was someplace cosy and homely, with a warm fire crackling. It was nice, a dream he'd had a few times before. He knew there was no chance of it ever coming true, not in a Torchwood world, but that was alright. No matter the circumstances, he and Jack had one another and that was all that really mattered.

Then the dream shifted and somehow Ianto found himself no longer snuggled close to Jack but a young boy at home. He immediately felt uncomfortable and didn't want to be there. Something was wrong, but it was a feeling he knew too well in that house. It seemed to him that his father was always angry about something and usually speaking in short, gruff tones when he wasn't outright shouting.

Of course, it was never Rhiannon he was shouting at, and deep down Ianto knew it was because Rhiannon wasn't the reason their mother died. That was Ianto's fault. He couldn't say when he first learned that fact, it was sort of just a part of who he was, like growing up saying half of everything in Welsh.

Ianto's father was angry over something Ianto hadn't done properly, though he didn't know what. He rarely did know what and even when he did it was a mystery to him how he'd been wrong. He only ever did things as best an eight-year-old could with no help or instruction.

He was terrified when his father began shouting at him, but less afraid when his father grabbed his arm. He could take the pain. He just wished that _once_ someone would tell him he'd done something right.

* * *

"Since you think you know everything," Jack said, crossing his arms stubbornly, "you'll be aware that I have seen the effects of sonmabombs before. They wear off eventually. What are you planning to do once he wakes up?"

"I was going to ask you the same question, Jack. I've wondered how much pain and stress in dreams it takes to change a person as much as it would in waking life. Of course, I'm fairly used to implanting memories, but dreams… now that's something else. And Ianto, oh, he practically does all the work. Do you know, Jack, how little suggestion it took for me to give him that break-down? He just took it and his fractured mind ran with it. There's so much pain and self-doubt there already, I hardly have to manufacture any. Of course, he hasn't had as much time to accumulate as much as you…."

"Few have," Jack said grimly. It wasn't exactly easy keeping up the sort of mind-block necessary to resist Adam, but Jack knew that was objective number one. He had to keep his thoughts cloaked if he was going to out-think this monster. Jack could already see a few flaws that he might be able to exploit – such as Adam's obsession with painful memories. Jack had enough of those to choke anyone, if he could figure out a way to make Adam effectively overdose on them.

Jack also knew he needed to keep his rage in check. No matter how badly he wanted to strangle Adam for those comments about Ianto, he needed to keep him talking. It was the only way to learn enough to be able to get rid of him for good.


	3. Chapter 3

University. Most days, Ianto could hardly believe it. For a long time he'd assumed he'd end up working in a shop all his life. Maybe becoming an office teaboy if he really set his sights high. There weren't a lot of options in the council estate world he knew. Even fewer for someone like him.

But that was behind him. He saw an opportunity and he knew that if he stopped to think for even a moment, he'd never make it out. So he'd run, essentially. He knew his sister took it personally, but that was exactly the sort of thing Ianto couldn't stop to consider.

And here he was… going to university in London! It was completely magic. And he didn't have to hide himself anymore. He could be the man he always felt he was without getting sneered at by the other council kids. Here, it wasn't a bad thing to be quiet and smart and a bit of an anorak about things like old films and coffee and precision timepieces. And if sometimes his pulse quickened when he looked at a handsome guy… this was _London_.

And that meant… squarely nothing.

Jeremy. The bloke in his first year physics class. Ianto wasn't entirely sure what drew his attention so much, other than that he was tall and confident. He was alright to look at, but with more rugged features than Ianto usually went for. Still, he was whip-smart and that was turn-on number one in Ianto's book, male or female.

It was last class of the term and some of the students had organized a celebratory piss-up. Ianto ordinarily would have politely declined the invitation, but Jeremy was going and Ianto thought it was a great chance to give it a go. That night at the pub, Ianto offered to buy Jeremy a beer and things were fine. They chatted casually for a bit, then Jeremy excused himself to the loo. Just before he ducked in, he glanced back at Ianto, making eye contact and grinning. His meaning was beyond clear and after a moment (for decency's sake, he figured), Ianto followed.

There was something slightly disgusting about snogging in a loo, but it was also edgy and exciting, Ianto thought as Jeremy felt him up with a hunger that amazed Ianto. "Do you have your own room?" Jeremy asked urgently.

"Yeah," Ianto breathed. "Come on." It was almost embarrassing how quickly they left the pub and arrived at Ianto's shared flat. Ianto didn't care, especially once they had one another's clothes dispensed with. Jeremy was an absolute animal unleashed – Ianto loved it and gave every bit as good as he got.

Afterward, Ianto was ready to sleep for the next ten hours straight. Jeremy, sitting at the edge of Ianto's little bed, occasionally glancing back at the Welshman, seemed torn between going home and joining Ianto for some kip.

"You can stay if you want," Ianto said sleepily.

Jeremy looked back at him and stood up.

Ianto reached out to stroke Jeremy's muscular thigh appreciatively. The next thing Ianto knew, Jeremy had sprung back on top of him, but this time was pummeling Ianto with his fists. At first, Ianto was too stunned to cry out or defend himself. Then old instincts took over and Ianto just made himself as small as he could, curling up and going still and quiet, waiting for it to be over.

* * *

"So what do you think, Jack? How much can he take? You know he's got plenty of memories that would be difficult to relive, to say the least…."

"He's stronger than you think," Jack snarled.

"Or weaker than you want to believe," Adam grinned. "There are things locked in his mind, Jack. Things I'm sure he's never told you. I really didn't have to go very far to make him believe he was a killer. And there are a few weak spots in his mental defenses. There are some fears that, if I let them out, make them real enough to him… might just break him for good."

At that moment, Jack hated Adam more than he'd hated anything he'd ever encountered. Adam was as adept in mental torture as Jack had once been in physical torture. He hated the way Adam knew exactly where to apply pressure to make Jack feel sick.


	4. Chapter 4

Something in the skies. It was like fireworks… or lightning, spreading out all over, multiplying. It was dangerous, terrifying. No way to fight it. Ianto knew all of that instinctively. But there was something worse coming. Ianto didn't know how he knew, but he felt it.

The dream turned and Ianto found himself standing in his family council house again. He was stood at the top of the stairs and felt as if he was defending his family – the woman there seemed to be the mother he never knew, and the younger girl had to be his sister – from his father. The father who Ianto _knew_ was dead.

All Ianto could do was chuck anything he could get his hands on down the stairs, boxes, rubbish baskets, a small table, everything he could lift. Nothing was working until he found a silver chest and threw it full-force down the stairs. Somehow that stopped the "zombie" or ghost or whatever it was and it vanished.

Ianto turned back to check on his sister who was hiding in the loo.

"She's alright, it's just a bit of a cut," said the older woman.

When Ianto looked, though, he found a deep slit across his sister's neck. No one else seemed bothered, but Ianto let out a terrified scream and turned away.

* * *

It took every ounce of willpower Jack had not to look toward his bunker when he heard Ianto cry out in his sleep again.

"Hmm… sounds like a bad one, doesn't it, Jack? Of course, the worst ones aren't the ones that cause screams…. You know the ones, Jack. The ones that hurt so much, that tear away so much of your soul that you can't even scream. All you can do is curl up and whimper and beg for it stop."

"What is it you think you're gonna get from this?" Jack asked defiantly.

"By the time we're done here, Jack? Whatever I want."

Once again, Jack fought with himself not to lose control. He felt like beating "Adam" to a bloody pulp but he had a feeling that wouldn't fix this. And it was tough work keeping up a mental barrier, he could feel Adam pounding at his psychic block – and he was a lot stronger than Mary's pendant had been. Jack hadn't been tested quite like that since his days as a Time Agent Cadet.

Time Agent… maybe that was it, Jack thought.


	5. Chapter 5

"Boo!"

"Don't."

"Go on. You're not afraid of ghosts," Lisa snickered, snuggling Ianto from behind.

"Not so sure I'm not," Ianto sighed.

"Really? No… you're not, are you?"

"We don't know what they are, though, do we? I mean, think of it… even if they are 'real' ghosts – which isn't possible – that would be… wrong, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know," Lisa shrugged, taking the coffee Ianto handed her. "I'd like to be able to talk to my gran again. Isn't there anyone you miss?"

"Of course. But there are also people I don't want to see again. And even the ones I wish I could… if there's an afterlife, I'd want them resting or enjoying it or something. Not dragged back here for a 'shift' because Yvonne Hartman is curious. I just think we're messing about with something we don't understand, and I don't think any good can come of it."

Lisa sighed. "Yep, it's true. The Welsh can find a cloud for every silver lining."

"Oi."

"Well, break's almost over, I'd best be off. See you for dinner."

"Yep."

"Enjoy your afternoon off."

Ianto caught Lisa's hand as she turned to head back up to her floor. "I love you," he murmured, getting in a quick kiss.

"Love you, too, Ianto," she smiled, kissing him back. "Can you pick up a pint of milk on your way over? Oh, and a bottle of sherry?"

"Yes, dear," Ianto said, rolling his eyes. He hurried back to his desk to fetch his jacket before clocking out. He hadn't mentioned that the appointment he had that afternoon was with a jeweler and that he wasn't just having his granddad's old cufflinks reset, but also having his nain's engagement ring resized. He only hoped he could stand to keep the secret until her birthday, and that was months off.

Ianto had gone directly to the bank afterward to put the ring in his safe deposit box before heading home to put his cufflinks away. He was just on his way back out to nip into Tesco for Lisa's requested shopping when the street erupted into chaos. Robots of some sort, marching along the roads…. Not good.

His training kicked in immediately and Ianto found the safest nearby cover from which to assess the situation. Moments later, he felt his mobile vibrate and found a panicked message from Lisa:

_Are you someplace safe? Something's happening – bad. Stay safe, please!_

Ianto triple checked his cover, then replied:

_I'm safe enough. Where are you? Are you safe?_

It was nearly five minutes before he got a response:

_We were told to stay under our desks and be silent. I don't know what's happening. These robots are everywhere. I think they're taking people. We could hear screams, guns downstairs. It sounds like a war zone in here. I'm scared, Ianto!_

There was no choice, Ianto decided. He was only a few streets over from the Tower.

_Keep_ _checking in with me, ok? Stay quiet. It's going to be ok. I'm coming. I'll get help, I promise. I won't let anything happen to you. I love you, Lisa._

Moments later, Ianto's dream/memory shifted and he found himself surrounded by fire and screaming. The screaming, he realized, was coming from Lisa, half encased in a metal suit, as he fought to get her out of the Torchwood Tower. A traitorous part of him knew her cries would haunt him for the rest of his life and questioned if he was doing the right thing keeping her alive. Perhaps there were worse things than being converted into something that had no concept of itself….

* * *

"Gone a bit quiet, hasn't he, Jack?"

Jack just glared, arms firmly crossed.

"It's not the ones that make you cry out in fear, is it? No, Jack…. It's the ones that are so real that leave scars. The ones that really happened. Poor, sweet Ianto."

Just then an annoyingly familiar voice echoed in the Hub. "Honey, I'm home! I knew you'd invite me over eventually… but in the middle of the night? Not that I'm actually surprised about that. This isn't a rebound, is it? Eye-candy finally get sick of that ego of yours? Oh… wait! That's not it at all! Three-some!"

Adam frowned deeply. "Who the hell is this?"

"That was going to be my question," John Hart said, standing in the doorway to Jack's office, barely raising a brow at Jack's half-dressed state. "So I was right on the three-some, but no Eye-candy? A bit disappointing, but again, not really a surprise. He didn't seem the type."

"You'd be surprised," Jack muttered.

"Really?"

"Well, not with _you_. Ianto's a man of impeccable taste, after all. Much better taste than me."

"So, what is this, anyway? Rebound three-some with… who is he, again?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna pass on the three-some thing. Ianto and I are fine, thanks. This _thing_ here calls itself Adam. And actually, I just need a hand getting shut of him. Top tip – don't touch it. It feeds on memory."

"Oh, goddesses… a 'no touching' rule now? Is there any kind of fun you haven't ruled out?"


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, it's actually more of a 'don't let it touch you' rule. 'Cause, see, what he does is transmits or implants false memories by touch. And if he doesn't like you, you get _bad_ false memories."

"Bad false memories? What, he's never met a time-agent, I suppose?"

"Not til he met me."

"Yeah, the king of bad memories. What kind of idiot are you, mate?" John Hart inquired.

Adam just glared at him.

"Oh, I'm scared now, big boy."

"Maybe you will be after -"

John rolled his eyes (though not as convincingly as Ianto would have done) and intercepted Adam's outstretched hand, grabbing his wrist and twisting his arm up his back. "Please. I'm not _just_ a pretty face."

"You aren't that either," Jack shot back out of habit.

"Did you _want_ my help? So, what did this… what is it again, and what did it do to get that look in your eyes? 'Cause the last time I saw that look, the results were on the order of catastrophic collapse of half a Kadushian society."

"It's a contanimus, isn't it, 'Adam'? And this is the second time it's targeted Ianto with its temper-tantrum."

John chuckled. "Oh, you are an idiot, mate. Didn't anybody ever warn you not to fuck with his eye-candy? Seriously. I've seen this man deliver torture your little mind-screws couldn't touch in a million years."

"I don't do torture anymore," Jack said sharply.

"Then what do you do?" Adam sneered. "Because you can't kill me, Jack."

Jack grinned, and John had to suppress a shudder just looking at that grin. "I know a thing or two about 'can't kill,' as I believe you are aware. See, Adam… you fucked up last time. And this time, because you coming back here broke the retcon. Get him in the vaults where I can deal with him safely, if you don't mind."

"Aye, Captain."

"And don't let it touch you!"

* * *

As soon as John had shoved Adam out of Jack's office, Jack jumped down to his bunker where Ianto was still sleeping fitfully, obviously racked by nightmares. Jack hated that he couldn't just wake Ianto and cuddle him until the lingering fear went away like he usually did when a bad dream struck.

Jack hurried to get dressed. It wasn't that he was self-conscious about wearing nothing but pants and an undershirt, but there was an element of power to his usual 'uniform' that served him well when dealing with the universe's miscreants.

Shrugging his braces into place, Jack sat on the side of the bed and stroked Ianto's forehead. Ianto whimpered in his sleep at the touch.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered, taking his hand away. "Try to rest easy, ok? I'm gonna get rid of him, for good this time."


	7. Chapter 7

**Two in one day. Lucky ducks! ;-)**

* * *

"I'll give you one thing, at least you came to your senses about the need for a blond around here."

"Are you referring to him or yourself?" Jack inquired.

John shrugged.

"Can you make coffee?"

John gave him a look. "Well, that's a creative way of getting rid of me. You know damn well your eye-candy up there catches me doing that and he will break my neck before you can say 'espresso patronum.'"

"I don't think he'll be awake for another couple hours. Our friend Adam sent us a somnabomb earlier and tweaked it to give Ianto nightmares. Because he's a cocky little shit and underestimates Ianto Jones."

"I'll give you another thing – you like your pretty faces with a mind and will of hypertitanium."

"You're damn right I do. What about the shop on the Plass? Can you pop round and see if they're open yet? We're gonna need coffee."

"Are you paying?"

"How many earth casinos have you taken for broke since you were here last?

"A few," John said petulantly.

"And how much have you squandered on sex, drugs, booze, toys…. Never mind. Take cash from my desk – top drawer. Don't touch anything else in there. And _just_ coffee, got it? Make 'em venti or whatever's big. Black. Dark roast for me, and the blend for Ianto… symphony-something."

"When did this become your life?" John asked, heading out of the vaults. "I think I preferred it when the city was blowing up."

Jack didn't bother shaking his head. He turned to the cell containing Adam and that scary grin spread across his face again.

"Hi, Adam."

"You'll never be able to kill me, Jack."

"I know."

"So what's the point of all this? You can't get rid of me, you lose."

"Maybe I do. But that doesn't mean others have to. I gotta admit, you got me last time. Threw me off my game. That doesn't happen often. And it never happens twice. You know, Adam, I can take a lot. You've seen my memories. There's a lot there, a lot of baggage. But you hurt people I care about. You've hurt Ianto twice now. And you hurt Toshiko. But she forgot about you, and she's gone now. So's Owen. And you know what happened to them? My baby brother. He went mad, psychotic from all that torture. I had to put him on ice myself. See, Adam… I'm used to losing."

"So, what the hell -"

"You gave it away yourself. And I remember it now. You said to me, 'You always remember what you kill.' Because I can 'kill' you, and as long as I'm the only one who remembers… you'll be trapped. In my mind. With all my other nightmares. For the rest of my _very_ long life. I'll never forget you, Adam. That's a promise. I might never think of you again, but I'll never forget. You'll always be there. In a little mental file, like my beautiful, clever, strong Ianto talks about."

Jack took out his Webley and reached for the cell door. For the first (and last) time, Adam looked genuinely sick.


	8. Chapter 8

**Actually getting some writing in this weekend, and on long-neglected stuff, too - yay! **

* * *

"Ok, three massive cups of coffee. Is this what it's like being Eye-candy? Put nasties in the brig, fetch coffee for the team, and I've had the 'shag Jack' qualification for years. See, I'd make a good addition. You're two men down… or man and woman. Whatever."

"John, can you just shut the hell up while I have a headache and am still armed?" Jack said, emerging from the basement vaults.

"Oh. Guess you already took care of your guest, then."

"Yeah. Can you grab the milk and sugar over at the coffee station?" Jack asked, sitting tiredly on the couch in the Hub and reaching for his coffee.

"You really are a spoilt little Captain Fauntleroy these days, aren't you?" John grumbled, putting the milk and sugar selections on the coffee table with a pronounced thud.

Jack shrugged. "Just used to having someone who takes care of things."

"Whatever." John poured three packets of 'sweetener' and about a quarter cup of UHT milk into his and sat back with Jack.

"And you think Yan would break your neck for touching his coffee machine? I hate to think what he'd do if he saw you defile coffee itself like that."

"Is he going to be alright?"

"Yeah... I don't know yet."

"Which is it?"

"He's a lot stronger than Adam thinks. He's a lot stronger than anybody thinks when they first meet him. But… last time…. Adam tries to make Ianto doubt himself, because that's his weakness. He doesn't have the best self-confidence, and he hides it from just about everybody, which makes it even worse because people think he doesn't need the thanks. He's lying there right now, stuck in dreams. And I don't know what they're doing to him. It may take us a while to sort things out. He's so ready to believe bad things about himself…."

"Kinda surprised you're sharing that," John said, taking a long draught of artificially sweetened coffee.

Jack was quiet for a minute. "Maybe I just need to talk about it sometimes. I love him. More than I've ever loved anyone in my life. Sorry. But I'm scared to tell him. I'm scared it'll scare him. He's never had a real relationship with a guy, another thing related to his self-confidence. Sometimes it feels like I'm wasting time we don't have…. It's the worst thing I've dealt with yet when it comes to this living forever shit – knowing I'm going to lose him and not have any end in sight for myself.

"And _I'm_ kinda surprised _you_ didn't taste the retcon," Jack said as John set his nearly empty cup aside.

"What?!" John spat.

"Yep. You won't remember a thing in the morning. Well, whenever you wake up, anyway. And that's how Adam stays dead. I shoot him – check; he's wiped from your mind – check; and trapped in mine. Forever. As long as I'm the only one, it's safe. Didn't figure that out last time around. I just sent him back to the void by forgetting him along with the rest of the team. This time, no void he can escape."

"There's no trusting you, is there?" John accused, swaying as he stood up.

"You'd know," Jack shrugged.

John stumbled sleepily as the retcon began to impair motor function. "Bastard."

"Best ya got?"

"Fucking bastard."

Jack laughed, but it was hollow. He waited for John to collapse in a comatose heap on the floor of the Hub, then flipped open John's wrist strap and sent him off to wake up on a beach in Fiji.


	9. Chapter 9

After sending John off, Jack sat down for a moment and sighed, letting his head drop back. He felt exhausted, almost certainly the second-hand effect of the somnabomb up on his desk. He still needed to contain that, though it was nothing but a shell now. Then he needed to get back to Ianto.

Jack had to hope that a person couldn't really be driven mad by ODing on bad dreams as Adam suggested. He couldn't show Ianto the CCTV video this time, because that could lead to him remembering Adam. Jack supposed he could retcon the dreams away, but the thought of giving Ianto retcon at any time made Jack queasy. He didn't want to admit that, deep down, he wanted Ianto to keep _all_ the memories of whatever time they had together, just as Jack always would.

Finally, Jack forced himself up off the couch and took his shop-made, marginally passable coffee to the nearest workstation to delete CCTV footage and alter the timestamps to make it look clean (Ianto would see the time gap immediately otherwise, and he would investigate very thoroughly any aberration). Then Jack contained the bomb shell on his desk and left a note for Ianto to catalogue it as unknown but apparently innocuous.

Jack went down to his bunker where Ianto was whimpering and curled up foetal, as if trying to protect himself.

"It's ok," Jack murmured, sitting beside him, "it's gonna be ok. I just need you to wake up and realise it was all dreams. None of it was real."

Ianto groaned and pulled back in his sleep.

"He'll never hurt you again," Jack whispered. "I've made sure of it this time." Jack just watched sadly as Ianto continued looking like he was trying to hide. All Jack wanted to do was pull Ianto into his arms and hold him, but he knew that could make it worse if Ianto woke up afraid. Jack sat back against the wall, keeping close but not crowding, and waited.

It was nearly an hour later when Ianto shifted suddenly out of a sounder sleep than he'd had all night. Jack knew that panicky look and shifted away a bit to give Ianto some more space.

"No…," Ianto rasped, his voice strained and thick with sleep.

"It's ok," Jack said softly.

"Get away!" Ianto demanded. "Don't you dare touch me again!"

The pure fear… no, _terror_, in Ianto's voice and eyes struck Jack deeply. "It's ok, Yan," Jack promised. "It was a dream. You just had some bad dreams. Everything is ok now."

"No. Get away. I won't let you!"

"You're awake now, Ianto. It's over. It's ok, really."

"I said _no_! I know what you think – lie to me, drug me, make me think it was a dream…. Get away! I know what happened! I know what you did!"

Jack slowly backed off a little more. "Ok. Ok, I'm staying clear. See? But please listen, I promise I didn't do anything."

"Of course you say that now. Get away from me and don't ever come near me again. I'll tell them all if you so much as look at me."

"Ianto, please."

"NO!"

Jack felt crushed and moved further toward the ladder leading up to his office. "I'm sorry," he whispered, "for whatever you think happened. I swear to you that it _didn't_ happen. I wouldn't hurt you."

Ianto glared from the bed, the sheets pulled up to his shoulders. "All you ever do is hurt those around you," Ianto accused venomously.

"Not you…."

"Especially me!"

Jack sighed. "I'm going, ok? I'll be up there if you want to talk. There's some coffee for you, if you want it."

Jack stumbled slightly, emerging from the manhole in his office. He was fighting off tears and a certain frustration that was potentially dangerous to the structural and technological integrity of the Hub. He decided it was a good time to find a rooftop where he could think of a way to prove Ianto's dreams weren't real without making him remember Adam.

Jack hadn't bargained for Adam somehow turning Ianto against him. And if he'd made Ianto believe what it sounded like…. The wisp-trace of 'Adam' that existed in that little mental file was about to face all of Jack's many bad memories at once, he decided.


End file.
